"I’m too sacred for the sinners/And the saints wish I would leave." - Mark Heard

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

The Worlds Most Expensive Vegetables - Part 11

I told you I was addicted.

There I was, minding my own business in the Garden Weasel aisle when I hear, "Psst.... hey buddy. Wanna blue berry bush? They're on sale." "Uh, no thanks.""You know you want 'em. Plus it takes a few years for them to become productive so if you wait for next year that's just longer you'll have to wait to eat these beauties. THINK OF THE CHILDREN!" "I tried a blueberry plant before at the old house. It didn't work.""Bad location. Try again! Hope springs eternal, eh buddy?" "I'll take two."

I also needed four more medium-duty tomato cages. Actually I needed six but I forgot to count before heading off to the store. And then there's the rain barrel. I've been lusting after rain barrels for years. I even had the perfect location picked out at the old house where the gutters would need only minimal changes to fill it but it never happened. However just outside of Ossian this guy has a trailer full of these blue 55 gallon masterpieces of plastic for ten bucks each. They previously held balsamic vinegar so they're even food grade! I have yet to connect this to any kind of guttering or even to add a hose connector but it may have already paid for itself. We have a big inflatable pool that the kids play in for about two days before the water gets too dirty for them.* This past time instead of just emptying a pool that took my well an hour of constant pumping to fill the kids and I transferred much of the water to the rain barrel. A good time was had by all. My current total is now at $488.

Otherwise it's been a quiet week in the garden. Sure, I put in another four square feet of green beans and did some weeding but otherwise there hasn't been much activity aside from growing. Here are the beets. The standard red ones (in the back) are about twice as big as the yellow ones. I hope the yellow ones taste like bananas.

Of all the carrots I've planted, the parisian carrots (short, stubby creatures) in a pot are the ones going gangbusters. Too bad there are only a few of 'em.

Here's the first tomato, likely the first of thousands. I don't remember if this plant is a cherry tomato or if this is just a very small beefsteak.

Speaking of tomatoes, here's another peek at the only small seed variety that I started pre-season and which is still alive. I'm going to put this one into the ground soon and see if what it does. It's the last of some heirloom seeds my wife purchased back in 2004 so perhaps I'll try saving some seeds if it's extra tasty.